“I just can’t do heels any more” Victoria Beckham utters a phrase we thought we’d never hear

Known for an unwavering adoration of stilettos, Victoria Beckham has sent shockwaves through the fashion world by announcing that she is done with wearing heels.

Her comments haven’t come completely out of the blue. The real shock moment was last week, when Beckham, 41, appeared for her bow, following the finale of her AW16 catwalk show. She stepped out wearing a cream ribbed roll-neck, cropped charcoal tailored trousers and…trainers.

The world’s fashion media were in shock. Sure, they were immaculately box-fresh Adidas Stan Smiths, but they were trainers nonetheless. For the days following the show, there were sightings of this unusual phenomenon: Posh Spice in flats.

And now, she’s only come out and made it official – that she’s over heels.

Victoria Beckham steps out in trainers after her AW16 catwalk show

Making the comments to The Telegraph’s Lisa Armstrong, the fashion designer says:

“I just can’t do heels any more. At least not when I’m working.”.

“I travel a lot.”

“Clothes have to be simple and comfortable.”

Although Beckham spent the last 22 years perennially in heels, she insists this new look is the ‘real her,’ saying:

“I think people saw the real me when I came out in a pair of men’s trousers, a roll-neck and trainers.”

Victoria Beckham wears white loafers in London this week

Far from having a fashion lobotomy, Beckham is a little late to the party. But join the party she has – the Phoebe Philo comfortable shoe brigade that was born in 2012.

Philo is known for her sporty look of roll-necks, tailored trousers and trainers that sky-rocketed the sales of Stan Smiths and sent a wave of sighs through the sore feet of the fashionistas.

It’s taken a while, sure, but a shift in fashion has occurred that has taken into account the reality of women’s lives in 2016: feminism and fashion have started to collide once again, with comfort coming before aesthetic for many designers and – for the best ones – combining in a collision of perfection.

Victoria Bekcham in her usual vertiginous heels, December 2015

In line with the times, Beckham says her new collections for the working woman and are “all about making getting dressed easy. And being flattering.”

Whether or not we believe that the past two decades of Beckham have, therefore, been the ‘fake’ her, or if she’s simply following the latest trend for practical, comfortable chic clothes, is neither here nor there.

She’s a mother of four, a world-famous celebrity and a successful fashion designer – it’s a style evolution that just makes sense.